Replace the CAVE With the FRAVE Virtual Reality System

When prototyping something, developers will occasionally enter into a room with between three and six projection surfaces to observe their work in its natural surroundings, as a virtual environment. Called the Cave Automatic Virtual Environment, or CAVE, this system allows for changes to be made to the virtual prototype immediately. As cool as that may seem, there are three drawbacks to the CAVE system. One is the size of the rear-projection systems employed. Another is it is not modular. You cannot just move a screen to the floor or to a table when you need it. Finally, the CAVE is not cheap.

Enter the FRAVE, or Flexible Reconfigurable Cave, a flexible virtual reality system developed at Technische Universitaet Muenchen. By utilizing 3D plasma screens with a resolution of 1920x1080 each, the images can be moved around much more easily thanks to their smaller size. Utilizing a tracking system, the images shown will be updated as a screen is moved, to remain a window to the virutal world and not just a picture of it. That settles two of the three issues, how about the third, cost? All of the components of this system are end user devices. What are these cheaper end user ingredients?